Wood-heel-grooving machine.



C. R. SANDERS.

WOOD HEEL GROOVING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H, 1914- 1,213,271. Patented Jan. 23,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- HEM a @a5L 6 MW c. R. SANDERS. WOOD HEEL GROOVINGMACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, I914.

Patented J an. 23, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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CLYDE it. SANDERS, or enonsn'rown, MASSACHUSETTS.

WOOD-HEEL-GROOVING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLYDE R. SANDERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Georgetown, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Wood-Heel-GroovingMachines, of which the following-is. a specification.

In the .manufacture of wood heels it is customary to perform varioussuccessive operations upon a wooden block, which has previously beensawed into such shape that subsequent operations may be performed withas little difficulty as possible. One of these operations consists inshaping that portion of the heel known as' the breast. This operation isusually performed with a rotary cutter shaped longitudinally tocorrespond to the required shape of heel breast, the operation beingusually called grooving, as the transverse out which istaken is concave.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for automaticallygrooving the'breasts of wood-heelblanks, which will enable this work tobe performed by practically unskilled labor, with no more effort than isrequired merely to place the blank in the machine, which will securelyclamp the blank and hold it in place automatically during the groovingoperation andwill. automatically discharge it at the end of saidoperation, and which will enable the operation to be rapidly performed.I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1, is a plan view of a machine embodying myinvention. Fig. 2, is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken atline 2, 2, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is adetail view of a portion of theblank-holding means. Fig. 4, is a. side elevation of the machine. Fig.5, is a plan view of the rotary cutter adjusting frame. Fig. 6, is adetail'plan view of one of the clamps. Fig. 7 ,-is a bottom plan viewthereof. Figs. 8 and 9, are side and front views respectively of a heelblank.

Inthe drawings, the frame 1, of the machine has a shaft 2,mountedvertically therein, and acarrier 3, is mounted on the upper end of saidshaft, so that it may-rotate 1n a horizontal plane. The shaft 2, isprovided with a worm gear 4, which is driven from a corresponding gearon the shaft 5, the latter bein driven from a. counter-shaft 6.

A rotary cutter 7 is mounted on a shaft 8,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1917.

. Application filed April 11, 1914. Serial No. 831,308.

journaled in a frame 9, said frame being secured to and supported at oneend on a shaft 10, rotatably supported in the frame,

and providing a pivot therefor. The opposite end of the frame from theshaft 10, is supported by a bell-crank lever 11, which is mounted on theframe 1, oneend of said lever 11 being connected to the frame 9 by apair of flexible joints arranged to permit relative lateral, as well asvertical, swinging movement. The other end of said lever 11 is engagedby an adjusting screw 12, so

mounted in the frame, that, by-turning'said screwin opposite directions,the frame 9 may be swung upwardly or downwardly about the shaft 10 as apivot, thus raising or v lowering the cutter shaft 8. Means permittingadjustment axially of the cutter shaft 8, as well as transverselythereof, are also provided, comprising an adjusting screw 13 which isthreaded in a lug 14, on the frame 1, and having a central bore, throughwhich the shaft 10 extends. One end of the screw 13 is arranged toengage one side of the frame 9, and the other end to engage the collar15, on said shaft 10, so that by turning the screw 13 in oppositedirections the shaft 10 may be caused to move longitudinally incorresponding directions, and, as the frame 9 is secured to the saidshaft 10,

the frame will also be caused to move axially of the'cutter shaft. i

The carrier 3 is preferably of wheel-like construction, having anannular rim portion 3, although other forms of carriers may be provided.Said rim-portion 3' is provided with a series of clamping devices,

all of which are of identical construction, and are arranged upon therim at equal distances apart. While only three of said clamps are shownin Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be understood-that one of the saidclamps is provided at each flattened portion,

indicated on the, periphery of the rim. In-

asmuch as said clamping devicesv are all identical in construction, adescription of bar 19 is also mounted on the innerend of said rods 18and an adjusting screw 20 is swiveled in said cross-bar and extends in aradial direction toward the rim. A guide pin 21 is slidably mounted inthe rim 3' in central alinement with the screw 20. A pair of stop nuts22 are externally threaded upon the guide pin 21 and a bracket 23 isclamped thereon between said nuts as best shown in Fig. 2. A spring 24is arranged on the guide pin 21 between the nuts 22 and the innersurface of the rim 3, and a friction roll 25 is mounted on the bracket23 for the purpose hereinafter described. The inner surface of thecross-bar 17 is preferably corrugated and a corrugated plate 26 isprovided on the rim 3 opposite said cross-bar, whereby clamping surfacesare provided, adapted to engage opposite sides of a heel blank. Withthis construction, the spring 24, acting against the inner side of therim 3, tends to force the yoke, formed by the rods 18 and cross-bar 17,inwardly, to draw the clamping faces of the clamp together, and, byadjusting the screw 20, the position of the yoke and cross-bar 17, withrelation to the plate 26, may be varied without disturbing the spring24, which will act to resist the opening of the clamp members to thesame extent, whatever the position of adjustment of said members may be.The

v purpose of vthis adjustment is to enable the normal distance betweenthe clamp members to be varied and blanks of difl'erent sizes to beclamped with the same force under all conditions.

A friction roll 27 is mounted on the outer side of each cross-bar 17 inosition to engage a pressure head 28, which is mounted on a slide 29,arranged in dovetailed guides formed in a plate 290, removably securedto the frame, whereby said head 28 is permitted to move laterally in aradial direction with relation to the carrier 3. An adjusting screw 30is threaded in a lug 31 on the ,plate 290 and extends through the slidelongitudinally thereof. A recess is provided in said slide to receive aspring 32 which is mounted on the adjusting screw 30 and is arrangedbetween a shoulder 33 at the inner end of said recess and a collar 34secured on the screw 30. With'this construction, by adjusting the screw30, so that its collar 34 is moved toward the carrier, said collar,through the sprin 32, will push the slide 29 and head 28, in t e samedirection, and when the collar is moved in the opposite direction, itwill draw the slide and head away from the carrier. The initial positionof the head 28 may thus bevaried without varying the tension of thespring 32, z'. e., the latter will resist the movement of the head awayfrom the carrier with the same force in all positions. The purpose ofthis adjustment is to vary the position of the head 28 according to thedifferent posi tions to which the bar 17 may be adjusted. An adjustableabutment 35 is mounted on the rim of the carrier at the side of eachclamp and is adapted to be secured therewith by the clamp screw 36 andto be engaged by a stop screw 37 mounted on a lug v 38 secured to saidrim.

A stationary cam 40 is mounted on the frame in a horizontal positiondirectly be neath the carrier and closely adjacent therev to, said camhaving both ends provided with" Y inclined or rounded faces, disposed atop posite angles, and an intermediate convex face curvedconcentrically-with the axis of the vertical shaft 2. Said'surfaces ofsaid J cam 40 are arranged in position to be enface of the rim 3' andextends horizontally from a point opposite the middle portion of the cam40 to a point opposite and slightly beyond one end thereo as indicatedin Fig. 1.

The heel blanks to be operated on in the machine, areof various forms,but are provided with opposite parallel faces representing the base andtop surfaces of the heel. Each blank is also provided with a face y, atthe breast, which is in the same position on all blanks, the otherportions ofthe breast being varied according to the particular form ofbreast to be formed, as ilpdicated bythe different dotted lines in Theoperation of the machine is as follows: v The counter-shaft 6 beingdriven, the cutter-shaft 8 and the carrier-shaft, 2, are driven atconstant speeds, relatively proportioned to requirements; The carrier isdriven clockwise, or in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, and, as itrotates, the friction roll 25 of a clamp will be brought into engagementwith one inclined end of the stationary cam 40, and said roll will ridethereon causing the yoke 17 of the clamp to be ushed outwardly andcompressing the spring 24. The cross-bar 17-.is thus moved away from theplate 26 far enough to ermit the operator to place one of the heel lankstherebetween, the initial relative positions thereof having beenpreviously adjusted by the screw 20, as before explained. The operatorplaces the blank between the jaws of the clamp, breast downward, so thatthe breast face y rests upon the is so located as to support t e blankin the desired position in the clamp, and,*as the carrier rotates, theblank is slid along on said guard and, at the same time, the roller 25runs along on the stationary cam 40, holding the clamp open, until itpasses down the other inclined end of the cam 40, and then the spring 24is free to act to draw the cross bar 17 toward the carrier, so that theblank is clamped between the clamp members. The friction of the blank onthe guard 41 causes ard 41, which i arranged that the central point ofthe face y,

will be held in alinement in the radial line which is perpendicular tothe clamping faces of the carrier, as indicated in Fig. 7. As soon asthe blank is clamped securely, it

moves out of contact with the supporting guard 41. As the motion of thecarrier is continued the friction roll 27 engages the abutment 28, andrides up the inclined end thereof, so thatthe head 28 is forcedoutwardly against the action of the spring 32-, and the outer member ofthe clamp isforced inwardly with a corresponding force, and, as

. said spring 32 is 'much stifi'er and stronger than the spring 24, theblank will be clamped between the clamping members with much greaterforce, while the roller 27 is in engagement with the surface of the head28,

than it is at other times. Whilethe blank is thus firmly held by thespring 32, actin on the member 17. of the clamp, it is carried intoengagementwith the cutter 7, which latter is so shaped and arranged thatit forms a groove of the desired shape across the then under side of theblank. 'The provision of supplemental means for..holding the blank whileit is being operated on by the cutter makes it unnecessary to provideeach clamp with anything more than a comparatively light springsufiicient to hold the block firmly in placeguntil it is clamped by theaction of the heavy spring 32. As the blank is carried in a curved pathwhile it is being operated on by the cutter, the groove which is formedthereon. will be correspondingly curved. The formation of the groove onthis curve is advantageous for the reason that, as the outer surface ofthe shoe, to which the heel will be subse uently attached, is curvedconvexly, and the ase or seat of the heel, in

a subsequent process, is concaved, the whole of the end face 3 being,atthe same time, removed to permit the grooved breast to extend to theshank, the transverse curve of the groove will correspond, to an extent,to the curve of the shank, and also to the curve of the concave in theheel-seat, so that, in some instances, .the .work of scouring the shankof the heel will, to an extent, be lessened. Furthermore, as the centerof the heelcis held in a radial line of the carrier,.

. the other. Immediately after the blank is carried out of engagementwith the cutter, the roller 27 will also be carried out'of enlank willstill be held in position in the clamp by the spring 24, but when theclam containing the blank is carried around unt1 the friction roll 25again engages the inclined end of the cam 40, the clamp will again beopened and the blank willvbe permitted to fall from the clamp into asuitable receptacle, and immediately thereafter the operator inserts afresh blank so that the operation will be repeated.

The abutment block 35, in 1 addition to' performing the function of acenteringstop for holding the blank in the desired position in theclamp, also acts to hold the blank from being moved sidewise in theclamp by the action of the cutter, which is rotated against thedirection in which the blank is cutter shapes the abutment to correspondto' the groove which is cut in the blank, as indicated in Fig.7.

The vertical and longitudinal adjustment .of the cutter is important, asit enables the depth of the groove with relation to the back of theheel, and also withrelation to its base, to be varied.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that after the parts areproperly adjusted, the operations upon the blank may be rapidlyerformed, the operator merely having top ace the blank in each clamp,after it is opened, the clamping, grooving, and subsequent discharging,all bei ng automatically performed. Y

I claim:

A machine of the character described, comprising a rotary carrier havinga clamp thereon, a rotary cutter arranged to engage a blank held by saidclamp, as the carrier carries the same thereover, an abutment arrangedtoengagethe opposite-side of the blank from that first engaged by thecutter,

while held in the clamp, and meanspermit'-- ting adjustment of saidabutment longitudinally of the path of theclamp to hold the blank incentralradial relation with the axis of the carrier. a

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of! two subscribing witnesses.

CLYDE R. SANDERS. Witnesses:

L. H. N, H. B. DAVIS.

